Archive for August, 2006
Brain stimulation seen best for late Parkinson’s
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Deep brain electrical stimulation appears to be more effective than the best medical treatment in reducing motor symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, according to the results of a clinical trial.
Several drugs are used initially to reduce symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, but their efficacy wanes over time, Dr. Gunther Deuschl and colleagues note in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.
Deuschl, a neurologist at Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany, and his team wanted to compare deep brain stimulation, which has been in use for several years, with optimal medical care.
Neurostimulation is delivered by a pacemaker-like device, and requires an electrode implanted in the subthalamic nucleus region of the brain. The researchers’ goal was to see if the benefits of neurostimulation outweigh the risks, and if …
US Cigarettes Have 10% More Nicotine Today Than Six Years Ago
All tobacco brands have been increasing the nicotine dosage in each cigarette steadily during the last six years, says a report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The overall increase has been about 10% during 1998-2004. The higher the nicotine dose, the more hooked you get – it is much more difficult to quit.
The only conclusion one could come to is that the tobacco industry has taken steps to secure sales by making people more addicted.
Massachusetts is the only US state with information on the nicotine content of cigarettes since 1998. It is also one of only three states that makes it compulsory for cigarette companies to submit data about nicotine.
Marlboro, the most popular brand, has been steadily raising the dosage in each cigarette. Kool, a popular menthol brand, has had its nicotine dose increased by 20% in six years. Over 60% of African-American smokers consume menthol brands.
Source : …
Kidnapper told victim parents had refused to pay a ransom for her
The kidnapper of the Austrian teenager Natascha Kampusch led her to believe he had demanded a huge ransom from her parents but claimed they had never responded during her eight years in captivity, her father has said.
Natascha, 18, is living in what police described as a safe location after escaping her abductor who had seized her when she was 10 and held her in a converted car-inspection pit beneath his garage.
Her father, Ludwig Koch, said her abductor, 44- year-old Wolfgang Priklopil, told her that her parents had repeatedly refused to pay a ransom demand he claimed he had made.
Mr Koch, who was briefly reunited with his daughter last week, told the N24 television network that Natascha had said of Priklopil: “He wanted 13m schillings from you, but you didn’t respond; you couldn’t be reached.” Mr Koch said Priklopil appeared to have convinced his daughter that her parents had lost interest …
Free legal music downloads in time for Christmas
It had to happen. A new legal music download service will be launched in December which will offer MP3s free at the point of delivery. New York-based Spiralfrog says its site will be fully funded by advertising.
The firm has some heavyweight backing in the shape of Vivendi Universal Music Group. Research apparently revealed consumers were willing to suffer ads for products relevant to them in exchange for free tunes.
Spiralfrog said it will make the entire Universal back catalogue available at no charge, including current hit parade favourites like Razorlight and Johnny Hallyday, together with its roster of classics from the likes of Stevie Wonder. Independent labels will be hosted too, along with video content.
The International Federation of Phonographic Industries estimates there’s currently 40 illegal downloads to every single legal one. Spiralfrog will be pitching at the tech-savvy 13 to 34-year-old demographic. Spiralfrog CEO Robin Kent said: “Offering young consumers an …
Simpson cancels album promo
Fresh from hosting the Teen Choice Awards last week, the Dukes of Hazzard star has been put on “vocal rest” after losing her voice, the Associated Press has reported.
Simpson cancelled an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman this week after she developed a bruise on her vocal cord, Simpson’s rep, Rob Shuter, said to AP.
“She has indeed lost her voice,” Shuter said. “She’s been ordered to rest. … She can talk, she can croak out a few sentences. She sounds a little off, but, you know, she can’t sing.”
The 26-year-old, who split from her boybander husband Nick Lachey this year, has denied the record and lead single, both titled A Public Affair, are about her recent divorce.
“A Public Affair is a play on words,” Simpson said to MTV earlier this month. “It’s not about what you think it’s going to be about.
“It’s about me going out with my …
Accused married to a mob
Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, who is considered a prophet by his 10,000 followers, faces charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in Utah and Arizona, sexual conduct with a minor, conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, and rape as an accomplice, the FBI said.It seized wigs, mobile phones, laptop computers and more than $US54,000 in cash from his car.
Mr Jeffs, called a religious zealot and a dangerous extremist by critics and former members of his church, is said to have fathered more than 50 children by 40 wives.
He was stopped by the Nevada Highway Patrol yesterday over expired licence plates.
The patrolman recognised Mr Jeffs and held him until FBI agents could arrive to identify him.
Mr Jeffs took control of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, from his now-dead father.
The sect, long based in an enclave in …
Ernesto Weakens Over Florida; Hurricane Warnings Are Canceled
Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — Tropical Storm Ernesto weakened to a depression with winds of 35 miles per hour as it crossed the Florida peninsula, prompting forecasters to cancel a hurricane watch for the Carolina coast.
Ernesto’s center was about 55 miles (88 kilometers) west- southwest of West Palm Beach as of 11 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said. The system, which came ashore before 2 a.m. today in southwestern Miami-Dade County, was moving north at about 10 mph (16 kilometers per hour), the center said.
As much as 10 inches of rain is possible today near the track of the storm, and rain could reach as far north as Delaware by tomorrow, the center said. Flooding will be a concern in North and South Carolina, as well as in Georgia as the storm moves from Florida over the Atlantic and up the coast, the center said.
“We had quite a bit of rain …
New Restrictions Proposed on Teenage Cosmetic Surgery in Australia
A reality television show has prompted a major change in the laws governing cosmetic surgery and other body altering procedures in the Australia’s state of New South Wales, which includes the city of Sydney.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that Premier Morris Iemma became “disturbed” when he learned that a teenaged contestant on the program Big Brother had had breast implants. And that incident resulted in Iemma’s administration introducing regulations that will require a referral from a primary physician to a cosmetic surgeon before any procedure is done. The teenager will also have to undergo counseling, obtain parental permission and have a one-month “cooling-off period” before having the operation.
The newspaper cites American statistics from the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons showing that 326,000 cosmetic procedures in 2004 were on teenagers.
Reminding his constituents that he was the father of a young daughter, Iemma told the newspaper that he was worried …
Bush spends a day, Katrina lingers on
(08-29) 04:00 PDT New Orleans — On the eve of the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush returned to the devastated region on Monday promising to continue federal assistance and, with his presidency still marred by the slow government response to the storm, eagerly pointed out signs of progress in reconstructing the Gulf Coast.
But the hopeful signs were scant in some spots. And as another storm rolled toward Florida, with thousands of victims from Katrina still uprooted, Bush admitted there were “a lot of problems left.”
Winding his way through tattered towns in Mississippi on his way to New Orleans, Bush spent the day demonstrating empathy and optimism, touring rebuilt areas and meeting with local officials and residents in his 13th trip to the area since the storm.
The journey marked an attempt to recast Bush’s image from last year, when he lingered on the West Coast before cutting short his …
Google Moves into Business Software
Google made moves Sunday to enter the business software market by introducing a suite of applications that include e-mail, communications and calendaring capabilities that are already offered separately by the search provider.
The Web-based applications will be offered for free, and seem to be a competitor to Microsoft’s Office Live product.
Google Apps for Your Domain includes the e-mail service Gmail, a Web-based version of its Google Talk software, Google Calendar, and Google Page Creator, a Web site design application. While in beta the service would be free, although Google may charge those who sign up for the product after the beta ends.
In its current form, Google Apps is intended for small businesses and organizations. However, by the end of the year the company plans to offer a version of the service useable by large corporations and government agencies.
Source : http://www.betanews.com/article/Google_Moves_into_Business_Software/1156785691
China, Russia to Launch Joint Mars Mission
BEIJING, Aug. 28 (UPI) — China and Russia reportedly are planning a joint mission to Mars that is planned to return samples to Earth as well as landing on one of the planet`s moons.
Ye Peijian, a scientist Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology, made the announcement last week in Beijing during a forum on China`s space technology development.
Ye said Russia will launch the spacecraft in 2009 and it will carry China-made survey equipment, Xinhua, China`s official news agency, reported.
Sun Laiyan, administrator of the China National Space Administration, says China`s deep space exploration during the next five years will focus on lunar and Mars exploration.
Source : http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1195620.php/
Florida braces for hurricane as storm claims life in Haiti
Florida was bracing itself for the season’s first hurricane after Cuba took a battering from furious winds and torrential rain.Tropical storm Ernesto is expected to turn into a category 2 hurricane with winds in excess of 74mph as it crosses the warm waters of the Florida Straits, setting its sights on landfall later today anywhere from Key West to Miami.
Residents in the south of the state went through the familiar routine of boarding up windows and stocking up on water and food as they prepared for the eighth hurricane strike in Florida in two years. “It certainly looks like it’s going to impact a significant portion of Florida before it’s all over,” said Max Mayfield, director of the national hurricane centre in Miami.
Jeb Bush, Florida’s governor, declared a state of emergency for the entire state. “It sounds like a broken record, but if families fortify their homes and shelter in …
A Watchdog Group Warns Against AOL’s Free Software
Dealing yet another blow to AOL, a leading software watchdog group warned users away from AOL’s free client software yesterday on the ground that it displayed characteristics consistent with “badware.â€
The term badware describes a wide array of downloadable applications that try to install extra components on a computer without clearly informing users of what they are or what they will do.
The group, StopBadware.org, posted an “open inquiry†into the AOL software yesterday, meaning that a dialogue has been opened with the company and that a full “badware†designation is still pending.
The report, however, stated that the AOL client software, which provides subscribers with a suite of services, also installed extra software deceptively, altered the Web browser and other computer components without notifying the user, and did not uninstall completely, among other “badware behaviors.â€
Similar characteristics are often found in pernicious forms of spyware and adware, often called malware. The StopBadware organization …
Britain to have 13 mln obese people by 2010
LONDON, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) — Britain is facing an obesity crisis as there will be 13 million obese people in the country by 2010 if no action is taken, according to a government health report. Â Â Â Â Around a third of adults and a fifth of children will be obese, and thousands more people are expected to suffer from related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, Sky news reported on Friday.
    The increasing consumption of junk food and the fall of physical exercise level are two major factors to blame for the trend, the report said.
    It predicted that the cost of obesity to the National Health Service is expected to rise above its current 1 billion pounds (some 1.9 billion U.S. dollars) if the trend continues.
    A total of 22 …
Google releasing package for the office
Starting Monday, Google will offer Google Apps for Your Domain, a free package of programs for businesses, universities and other organizations.
Workers will be able to send e-mail with Gmail, Google’s two-year-old Web-based mail service, but messages will carry their company’s domain name. The package also includes Google’s online calendar, instant-messaging service, and Page Creator, a Web page builder.
Information technology administrators can make some customizations. “But really, the applications are exactly what you’d experience as a consumer if you use them,” said Dave Girouard, VP and general manager of Google Enterprise, a division of Google Inc.
The free edition of Apps for Your Domain is, like Google’s main site, supported with ads. By the end of the year, the company also plans to launch a paid version that will offer more storage, some degree of support, and likely, no ads. A price for this edition hasn’t been set.
Providing e-mail and other applications …
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